The Xiaomi 14 Ultra is the company’s latest and greatest smartphone. It has an outstanding camera setup and performance, as we were able to find out during our review cycle. How does this phone compare to the very best of Apple, though? Well, that’s what we’re here to find out. We’ll compare the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max vs Xiaomi 14 Ultra in this article. Two very different smartphones, and yet two truly powerful offerings.
Needless to say, there are a lot of differences here. Not only are their software immensely different, but the two phones look totally different, and feel entirely different in the hand. This should be an interesting one. We’ll first list the specifications of both smartphones and will then move to compare them across a number of categories.
Specs
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max vs Xiaomi 14 Ultra, respectively
– Screen size:
6.7-inch Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion (flat, 120Hz, HDR10, 2,000 nits)
6.73-inch LTPO AMOLED display (curved, adaptive 120Hz, 3,000 nits max brightness)
– Display resolution:
2796 x 1290
3200 x 1440
– SoC:
Apple A17 Pro
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
– RAM:
8GB
16GB (LPDDR5X)
– Storage:
256GB/512GB/1TB (NVMe)
512GB/1TB (UFS 4.0)
– Rear cameras:
48MP (f/1.78 aperture, second-gen sensor-shift OIS), 12MP (ultrawide, f/2.2 aperture, 120-degree FoV, macro photography), 12MP (telephoto, f/2.8 aperture, 5x optical zoom)
50MP (wide, f/1.6-f/4.0 variable aperture, OIS, multi-directional PDAF, 1.6um pixel size), 50MP (ultrawide, f/1.8 aperture, 122-degree FoV, 0.7um pixel size, dual pixel PDAF), 50MP (telephoto, f/1.8 aperture, 0.7um pixel size, dual pixel PDAF, OIS, 3.2x optical zoom), 50MP (periscope telephoto, f/2.5 aperture, 0.7um pixel size, dual pixel PDAF, OIS, 5x optical zoom)
– Front cameras:
12MP (f/1.9 aperture) + TrueDepth
32MP (wide, f/2.0 aperture, 0.7um pixel size)
– Battery:
4,422mAh
5,000mAh
– Charging:
20W wired, 15W wireless (MagSafe & Qi2), 7.5W wireless (Qi), reverse wired charging (charger not included)
90W wired, 80W wireless,, 10W reverse wireless (charger included)
– Dimensions:
159.9 x 76.7 x 8.25mm
161.4 x 75.3 x 9.2mm
– Weight:
221 grams
224.4 grams
– Connectivity:
5G, LTE, NFC, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C, Bluetooth 5.3/5.4
– Security:
3D facial scanning
In-display fingerprint scanner (optical)
– OS:
iOS 17
Android 14 with HyperOS
– Price:
$1,199
€1,499
– Buy:
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max (Apple)
Xiaomi 14 Ultra (Amazon)
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max vs Xiaomi 14 Ultra: Design
As you can see, these two phones do look very different. They are both made out of metal and glass, but that’s about the only thing they have in common. The iPhone 15 Pro Max has completely flat front and back sides, while its frame is flat all around, with slightly rounded corners. The Xiaomi 14 Ultra has a curved display, while its back side is also curved towards the edges.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max has a pill-shaped camera cutout, while the Xiaomi 14 Ultra includes a centered display camera hole. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is made out of titanium and glass. The Xiaomi 14 Ultra utilizes aluminum and glass, for its global variant. The models in China do come with vegan leather on the back, while a special edition model with a titanium frame is also available in Xiaomi’s homeland.
You’ll notice that their rear-facing camera setups look very different. The iPhone 15 Pro Max has a squarish camera island with three cameras included there. The layout is very familiar to those of you who used iPhones in the last couple of years. The Xiaomi 14 Ultra has a huge camera oreo on the back, including four cameras. That camera oreo is centered, and it does protrude quite a bit.
Both smartphones are quite slippery, and both of them do offer an IP68 certification for water and dust resistance. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is slightly shorter, slightly wider, and slightly thinner. The weight of these two phones is very much comparable. The iPhone 15 Pro Max weighs 221 grams, compared to 229.5 grams of the Xiaomi 14 Ultra (global model). There are lighter Xiaomi 14 Ultra models in China, though. Both phones do feel immensely premium in the hand.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max vs Xiaomi 14 Ultra: Display
Apple’s flagship includes a 6.7-inch 2796 x 1290 LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED display That panel is flat, and it has a 120Hz refresh rate (adaptive). It supports HDR10 content, and also Dolby Vision. The maximum brightness this display can reach is 2,000 nits. The iPhone 15 Pro Max’s panel has a 19.5:9 aspect ratio, while the phone has around 89 screen-to-body ratio. The display is protected by the Ceramic Shield Glass.
The Xiaomi 14 Ultra utilizes a 6.73-inch QHD+ (3200 x 1440) LTPO AMOLED display. This display is curved, and it has an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz. This display does support HDR10+ content, and Dolby Vision too. The theoretical maximum brightness of the display is 3,000 nits. This panel has a 20:9 aspect ratio and around an 89% screen-to-body ratio. The Xiaomi Shield Glass protects this panel.
Both of these displays are outstanding, to say the least. They are both very vivid, with deep blacks, and great viewing angles. The touch response is great too, and both displays are well-protected. They both get very bright too, though the Xiaomi 14 Ultra’s panel does technically get a bit brighter. Regardless of which you choose, however, you’ll be happy with. Just keep in mind one is flat, and the other is not.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max vs Xiaomi 14 Ultra: Performance
The Apple A17 Pro 3nm processor fuels the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Apple also included 8GB of RAM inside of its flagship and is using NVMe storage. The Xiaomi 14 Ultra, on the flip side, is fueled by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, a 4nm chip. Xiaomi included 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM inside of this smartphone, while the company is also using UFS 4.0 flash storage on the inside.
From the performance standpoint, you can’t go wrong either way. Both of these smartphones offer outstanding performance, to say the least. They do run different software, entirely, but both handle workloads like champs. They can fly through apps while you jump from one to the other, and also do everything you do on a daily basis without a hitch. Gaming is the true test for them.
You’ll be glad to hear that both smartphones pass that test too, with flying colors. They can run pretty much the most demanding games on their respective app stores without a problem. Yes, they will both get quite warm during longer gaming sessions, but we did not notice a dip in performance on either phone. Also, neither one of them got too hot while gaming, even though they were quite warm.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max vs Xiaomi 14 Ultra: Battery
The Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max includes a 4,441mAh battery, while the Xiaomi 14 Ultra has a 5,000mAh battery on the inside. In China, it actually includes a 5,300mAh battery pack. We’re focusing on the global variant, though. Apple’s handsets usually have smaller batteries than their Android counterparts, so this is perfectly normal. Now, as far as general battery life goes, they’re both very good.
Getting over the 7-hour screen-on-time mark proved easy for us. The iPhone 15 Pro Max proved to offer a bit more in the battery life department, but the difference was not that big at all. Even getting to 8 hours of screen-on-time proved to be viable with both. Do note that we did not play any games during those days, and we were mostly connected to WiFi. Your experience may be different, of course, in fact, it almost surely will. Both of them do offer good battery life, though.
When it comes to charging, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra blows the iPhone 15 Pro Max out of the water. It supports 90W wired, 80W wireless, and 10W reverse wireless charging, while including a charger in the box. The iPhone 15 Pro Max supports 20W wired, 15W wireless (MagSafe & Qi2), 7.5W Qi wireless, and 4.5W reverse wired charging. It does not come with a charger in the box. The Xiaomi 14 Ultra can charge with its slower, wireless charging and charge up a lot faster than the iPhone 15 Pro Max. It can basically charge up around three times before the iPhone 15 Pro Max chargers a single time, that’s how much faster Xiaomi’s charging is.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max vs Xiaomi 14 Ultra: Cameras
The iPhone 15 Pro Max has three cameras on the back, while the Xiaomi 14 Ultra includes four. Apple’s handset includes a 48-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide unit (120-degree FoV), and a 12-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (5x optical zoom). The Xiaomi 14 Ultra has a 50-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel ultrawide unit (122-degree FoV), a 50-megapixel telephoto camera (3.2x optical zoom), and a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (5x optical zoom). On top of that, it also includes Leica’s lenses and expertise.
It’s hard to deny that both of these smartphones are great as smartphone cameras. If you get the iPhone 15 Pro Max, you’ll be fine. It takes great photos in almost all conditions. The thing is, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra does push that to a new level. During the day, the images from the Xiaomi 14 Ultra looked a bit closer to real life, and more often than not, we preferred their colors. In nighttime, the difference was even more obvious. The Xiaomi 14 Ultra takes some of the best low-light shots we’ve ever seen. It does a great job taming tons of light sources as well, which is not something the iPhone 15 Pro Max is particularly good at. Images from the Xiaomi 14 Ultra also do look less processed.
All the other cameras on the Xiaomi 14 Ultra tended to provide a bit more detail compared to what the iPhone 15 Pro Max had to offer. They all held up well in both daylight and nighttime, though. Both smartphones did a great job with high-zoom shots, though we did prefer Xiaomi’s shots most of the time, especially those in somewhat lower light. Both are great, but if we had to choose one to carry with us just for the camera, we’d probably go with the Xiaomi 14 Ultra due to added versatility, and the general look of images… well, most of the time. We still prefer the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s video output, even though it was close.
Audio
You will find a set of stereo speakers on both of these smartphones. Those speakers are good on both ends, though the ones on the iPhone 15 Pro Max are slightly louder. Both sets of speakers are well-balanced.
Neither of the two phones has an audio jack. You can always utilize their Type-C ports, though, and connect your headphones. If you prefer wireless audio, the iPhone 15 Pro Max supports Bluetooth 5.3, while the Xiaomi 14 Ultra comes with Bluetooth 5.4 support.
